I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for handling biological fluids and, in particular, to a system for collecting a large volume of liquid waste and safely disposing of the waste.
II. Description of the Related Art
Various forms of liquid medical wastes are commonly produced in surgery and other medical procedures. Such wastes may include blood and other body fluids of patients. The wastes may also include solid particles such as fragments of bone or cartilage. Some procedures produce a high volume of such waste from a single patient. For example, saline solution is used to irrigate the knee area during arthroscopic procedures. As another example, saline solution is used to flush the bladder, urethra and/or prostate in some urology procedures. Such procedures may produce as much as 30,000 cc of liquid medical waste.
Liquid medical waste generates significant disposal problems due to its possible contamination with various infectious diseases, including AIDS, hepatitis and MRSA. As a result, rules and regulations for the handling and disposal of liquid medical waste have been imposed by various governmental and regulatory agencies. For example, new regulations require the use of engineering controls to protect employees from exposure. In addition, hospitals and other health care facilities have been searching for methods and systems that reduce hospital personnel's exposure to the fluids during collection, handling and disposal. Procedures that produce large volumes of liquid medical waste amplify these issues and concerns.
Various systems and methods have been used for collecting, handling and disposing of fluids from procedures that produce large volumes of liquid medical waste. The collection vessels vary from simple buckets to automated, electronically controlled processing equipment.
A bucket, referred to as a “gravity bucket”, may be placed by an operating room table or placed in another convenient location within the room in which a medical procedure is being performed. Flexible tubing typically connects the gravity bucket with the region of the patient from which the fluid wastes are collected. When the gravity bucket becomes filled, it is carried out of the operating room and its contents are poured down a drain. Such an arrangement has several drawbacks. Carrying the open bucket and emptying it manually creates the opportunity for direct human contact with the potentially infected wastes if the fluid spills or leaks from the bucket. In addition, the fluids may splash back or otherwise result in the formation of aerosols that contact the person disposing of the waste.
Suction canisters are commonly used to aspirate fluids from patients during surgical procedures. Such canisters range in volume from around 1200 cc to around 3000 cc. A suction canister typically features a removable lid with a vacuum port and a patient or suction port. During a surgical procedure, the vacuum port is connected by flexible tubing to a hospital vacuum source while the suction port is connected by a second flexible tube to the region of the patient from which the fluid wastes are collected.
As an alternative to a gravity bucket, a number of suction canisters may be positioned on a stand and connected in tandem. The stand features a base positioned on rollers so that the stand may be rolled to, from and around an operating room. A vertical rod extends upwards from the base and has a number of horizontal rings connected thereto. Each ring is sized to hold a suction canister and the rings are positioned on the vertical rod in a spaced and staggered fashion. The eight (for example) canisters positioned on the stand are connected in a tandem fashion as follows. The first canister has its suction port connected to the patient's surgery site by a flexible tube. The vacuum port of the first canister is connected to the suction port of a neighboring second canister. The vacuum port of the second canister is connected to the suction port of a third canister. The arrangement is repeated for the fourth through seventh canisters. The eighth canister suction port is connected to the vacuum port of the seventh canister while the vacuum port of the eighth canister is connected to the hospital vacuum source. As a result, each of the eight canisters is subjected to suction so that fluids produced by the medical procedure are collected in the canisters.
While such an arrangement allows a large volume of fluid to be collected, as the above description reveals, the connection of the canisters is complicated. If one mistake is made in connecting the tubing, no suction is available for the procedure. In addition, the stand becomes somewhat top heavy with the canisters filled so that the cart becomes difficult to maneuver and great care must be exercised when moving the cart. The arrangement also results in a large number of canisters to clean or dispose of as infectious waste. Using the above example, one procedure would result in eight canisters that need to be dumped and cleaned. This is very time consuming. The large number of canisters required also makes the arrangement expensive.
Systems for collecting and disposing of high volumes of fluids are offered by the Steris Corporation of Mentor, Ohio, as the “SafeCycle 40”, and Stryker Instruments of Kalamazoo, Mich., as the “Neptune Waste Management System.”
The Steris “SafeCycle 40” system, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,863,446 and 4,957,491, both to Parker, is a fluid collection and disposal system featuring a mobile fluid collection cart and a disposal station. The fluid collection cart includes vacuum and suction ports that communicate with a reservoir that is positioned on the cart. The reservoir also features a drain outlet. A vacuum line connects the vacuum port of the collection cart to a hospital vacuum source during surgery so that fluid is withdrawn from the patient via flexible tubing that is connected to the cart's suction port and collected in the reservoir. The collection cart features a vacuum regulator that permits the level of suction provided by the cart suction ports to be adjusted by knobs on the cart. After surgery, the collection cart is connected to the disposal station via washing and draining connectors so that the reservoir is drained and flushed via a timed cleaning process.
The Stryker “Neptune” system, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,997,733 and 6,180,000, both to Wilbur et al., is a portable waste disposal system that includes a waste collection system, a smoke extraction system and a treatment and disposal system that heats the waste to sanitize it for disposal. The system includes a container that features a vacuum port that is connected to a vacuum source of a hospital. The container also includes a suction port that is in communication with the patient surgery site via flexible tubing. As a result, fluids from the patient are collected in the container. Smoke is withdrawn from the patient surgery site by an additional flexible tube that is in communication with the head space of the container. The smoke is filtered as it is withdrawn from the head space into a housing that contains additional filters and a fan that pulls the smoke into the housing. The container also includes a drain which may either be connected to the treatment system or a hospital drain so that the fluid in the container may be drained or treated and then drained.
While the Steris and Stryker systems have proven to be effective, the systems are unable to accommodate suction canisters of the 1200 cc to 3000 cc variety. As a result, a separate cleaning and disposal system for the smaller suction canisters must be purchased by a hospital in addition to the Steris and Stryker machines. This results in an increase in purchase expenses and personnel training for a hospital or other health care facility. The requirement for two separate systems also results in increased maintenance costs. Due to their complexity, the Steris and Stryker systems are also quite costly. Also due to their complexity, at least in part, the carts of the Steris and Stryker systems are heavy when their containers are full. This makes pushing and maneuvering the carts burdensome.
Laboratories, manufacturing equipment and industrial processes may also produce biological wastes that must be conveniently and safely disposed of. For example, automated cell culture growing equipment in a pharmaceutical laboratory may empty the cell culture waste into an area that must be vacuumed out. A large volume of the cell culture waste fluid is collected during the vacuuming and must be disposed of.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for safely and conveniently collecting a large volume of waste fluid.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that permits large volumes of waste fluid to be treated and disposed of without contact by personnel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system for collecting, treating and disposing of large volumes of waste fluid that is easy to configure and operate.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system that facilitates treating of large volumes of waste fluid.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the remaining portion of this specification.